Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - October - 2007 Issue

Sporting Books from James Cummins Bookseller

George Washington as a foxhunter.

George Washington as a foxhunter.


Item 143 is a personal African safari photo album. It was kept Max C. Fleischmann, heir to the Fleischmann Yeast fortune. He lived from 1877-1951, with this trip coming around 1907. Max Fleishmann obviously was well off as several of his photo albums are offered, including trips to Alaska and Mongolia. This album is headed, Two Months "On Safari" in British East Africa, primarily in territory now part of Kenya. The album starts with the party crossing the Suez Canal, going down the Ugandan Railway, and on to hunts along the Thika River. Pictures cover the caravan and its porters, gun-bearers, and campsites, lots of wild game, including rhinos, zebra, lions, giraffes and antelope, native warriors and villages, and the trek to Nairobi. The final three dramatic photographs capture a crocodile successfully taking down a rhino along the banks of the Thika. $7,000.

Item 207 consists of six prints from the Derrydale Press of Fathers of American Sport. Printed in 1931, they include people notable long ago in sports such as foxhunting, angling, horse racing, and yachting. However, one man, described as a "foxhunter," will be familiar to all Americans for a different reason. It is a portrait of a young Colonel George Washington. $4,500.

Moving up to the modern era, item 407 is the first issue, volume 1, number 1, of Sports Illustrated, dated August 16, 1954. This included a six-page baseball card fold-out from Topps, with portraits of stars of the day such as Willie Mays, Ted Williams, Jackie Robinson, Duke Snider, Vernon Law, Eddie Matthews, and Ted Kluszewski. $750.

Item 405 is a large assortment of skiing material, including the collection of Gary H. Schwartz, who wrote "Skiing Literature: a bibliographical catalogue." It consists of 1,600 items with books, journals, brochures, photographic albums and catalogues. The oldest book dates to 1558 (Historia de Gentibus Septentrionalibus by Olaus Magnus) as the collection traces skiing from its early days as a means of transportation. However, the main focus is on skiing as sport with works by virtually all of its creators and early commentators. Price on request.

You may visit James Cummins Bookseller at his website, www.jamescummingsbookseller.com, or contact the firm by phone at 212-688-6441.

Rare Book Monthly

  • Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 11: DALVIMART, Octavien ou d’ALVIMAR(T). The Costume of Turkey
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 11: DALVIMART, Octavien ou d’ALVIMAR(T)]. CLARK. The Military Costume of Turkey
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 11: HOMMAIRE DE HELL, Ignace-Xavier. LAURENS, Jules. Voyage en Turquie et en Perse
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 11: POSTEL, Guillaume. De la République des Turc
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 11: PREZIOSI, Amadeo. Stamboul. Souvenir d’Orient.
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 11: COSTUMES. EMPIRE OTTOMAN.
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 11: PRISSE D'AVENNES, Achille Constant T. Emile. L'Art Arabe
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 11: PRISSE D'AVENNES. Histoire de l'art Egyptie
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 11: BESANCENOT, Jean. Costumes et types du Maroc.
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 11: COSTUMES OTTOMANS. Suite de figures ottomanes à l’aquarelle
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 11: LES MILLE ET UNE NUIT, contes arabes
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 11: SCHLEGEL, Hermann et A. H. VERSTER van WULVERHORST. Traité de Fauconnerie - Planches
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 11: THEVENOT, Melchisédec. Relation de divers voyages curieux
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 11:
  • Old World Auctions (Feb 11):
    Lot 11. Blaeu's Superb World Map on a Polar Projection (1695) Est. $5,500 - $7,000
    Old World Auctions (Feb 11):
    Lot 36. Schedel's Ancient World Map with Humanoid Creatures (1493) Est. $14,000 - $17,000
    Old World Auctions (Feb 11):
    Lot 49. One of the First Lunar Globes to Show the Far Side of the Moon (1963) Est. $1,000 - $1,300
    Old World Auctions (Feb 11):
    Lot 5. The First World Map with Lavish Allegorical Vignettes of the Continents (1594) Est. $15,000 - $17,000
    Old World Auctions (Feb 11):
    Lot 55. Anti-British Propaganda Map with Churchill as an Octopus (1942) Est. $2,000 - $2,300
    Old World Auctions (Feb 11):
    Lot 197. One of the Most Influential Maps of Westward Expansion (1846) Est. $9,500 - $12,000
    Old World Auctions (Feb 11):
    Lot 10. Scarce Pitt Edition of Carte-a-Figures Map of the World (1680) Est. $9,500 - $11,000
    Old World Auctions (Feb 11):
    Lot 220. A Fine, Early Rendering of San Francisco (1874) Est. $2,200 - $2,500
    Old World Auctions (Feb 11):
    Lot 707. Hand-Colored Image of the Presentation of Jesus with Gilt Highlights (1450) Est. $1,600 - $1,900
    Old World Auctions (Feb 11):
    Lot 80. One of the Most Important Maps Perpetuating the Myth of the Island of California (1680) Est. $3,250 - $4,000
    Old World Auctions (Feb 11):
    Lot 725. Homann's Atlas Featuring 26 Folio-Sized Maps in Original Color (1715) Est. $4,500 - $5,500
    Old World Auctions (Feb 11):
    Lot 169. One of the Earliest Maps to Show Philadelphia (1695) Est. $4,750 - $6,000

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